D.C. Round 2: Provide the Common Defense

Following my tirade about Washington, it seems appropriate to display how I believe it preserves monuments and memorials in a very respectable way. More than any other city we have been to during the trip, D.C. allows for appropriate space and reflection for each monument. The reflecting pools and greenery allows visitors to ponder the significance of each memorial.


In the Preamble we see the statement, "provide the common defense.” Washington D.C. displays how American patriots and soldiers uphold and provide necessary defense which the average American knows little about. Everyday soldiers and the brave defend my rights and freedoms in ways I will never understand or know. This part of D.C. captures me with respect.

Americans are united by the army because whether we realize it or not we are provided defense without anything in return from the everyday citizen. Washington D.C. does a great job of memorializing soldiers and history that makes our country.

But as a Mass Communications major I consider the people who have made the memorial and what their intended motive and goal for it. Our government's goal for these is not only to remember, but to also be a badge of good Public Relations to all Americans and the vast majority of foreign tourists. And even though these memorials give honor to the fighters, I am sad other options to fighting was not considered. And each monument has an air of seeing other countries and people as enemies. A portion of the WW II Memorial reads," The heroism of our own troops...was matched by the armed forces of other nations that fought by our side...they absorbed the blows...and they shared to the full in the ultimate destruction of our enemies..." stated by President Harry S. Truman. For me, it hurts because I think we are all God's people and it makes our Savior sad whenever His children kill one another. I don't know if God would ever be in support of killling no matter the reason. If that was the case Jesus would have opened up a can on some Roman butt. If ever a time to fight and protect it would have been the son of God, and Jesus instead ask for forgiveness for those who persecuted him.